I’m trying to be optimistic

Thu, 05/28/2009 - 12:02  Dralius

Yesterday I received an update from a publisher that was planning on putting out one of my games this fall.

Did you notice I said WAS?

The publisher in question (No Names) is partnering with several other publishers in Europe to reduce the cost of production. Most of the games components are not language dependant so they can share costs for the run. Because of the economy one had to back out which has put the entire plan in jeopardy.

Now that being said they are looking for a replacement and the deal could go ahead if one is found. I’m trying to be optimistic here but from where im standing it seems at best there will be a delay and the release date will be pushed into 2010. On the other end of the spectrum it will be cancelled after a long search for a partner. This would tie up the game not allowing me to do anything with it.

Oh well, more waiting. This is the nature of the beast and I will stare it down unblinkingly.

Return of rights is not so much an issue as timing and good faith. There are two considerations I am keeping in mind before asking for it back.

1. It certainly is not the remaining partners fault they are in this position. Just to be fair and so they will continue to work with me in the future i want to give the group time to work out their problem.

2. The game includes custom molded pieces. One of the publishers owns the mold for it. The game could be made with generic ones but would lose allot of style. It has a good amount of parts which will make it expensive. The cost of having their own mold made would inflate production costs, possibly beyond what the market will allow. This makes it a harder sell and leaving it where it is with a long delay might be the better bet than starting over.

My personal record is 5 years between initial production quote and actual printing of a game, so hang in there. These kinds of hiccups are more common than you'd think though. Hang tight and plow your efforts into the next design for now since it sounds like something that this group of partners will need to work out. My guess is that yours is not the only game affected, so they'll work to rectify the situation.